I'm so stoked to have found this site (and even more stoked to have an app for it)! I've never successfully kept fish; I've had small pets, dogs and cats my whole life, though. About three months ago I took up a second job working at my local PetSmart, and being exposed to so many beautiful fish so often really piqued my interest. My best friend has a 70 gallon tank that she has stocked with a few different kinds of South American and African cichlids, along with a variety of semi-aggressives that we sell in-store. She makes it look so easy! My dream tank is an LED Fluval Edge, live-planted with a pair of rummynose tetras.
A week and a half or so ago, I saw a really beautiful betta male and bought him out of sheer impulsivity. I bought some rocks and a bowl and some freeze-dried bloodworms, and thought I was good to go. It's really not like me to dive into a new pet without doing research, but I did it anyway, operating under the myth that bettas prefer tiny bowls to anything else. I didn't even buy the poor guy a bowl heater
I started doing heavy research a few days ago, and immediately saw the error of my ways and felt awful about it. I consider myself to be a very animal-oriented person, so I'm trying as quickly as possible to right the situation. I went out and bought a 3.5 gallon bowfront to put on my bedside table, a heater, and a Tom Mini Internal filter because the one provided in the 3.5g kit was really strong. He seems much happier already I do eventually want to go up a size (to a 5 gallon) so that I can keep this 3.5 for shrimp only, but I think it'll work just fine for the interim.
I'm pretty much here so that I can educate myself and hopefully become a decent fish keeper, and keep my betta healthy and happy.
I'd like to start figuring out now the steps to make my future Fluval a success as well. I've skimmed through some threads already, and most of replies I read came from what seem to be very knowledgeable, passionate people. I couldn't be more excited to start learning. I'm actually about to go post in the getting started section, but figured forum etiquette required I post here first.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice I receive!
A week and a half or so ago, I saw a really beautiful betta male and bought him out of sheer impulsivity. I bought some rocks and a bowl and some freeze-dried bloodworms, and thought I was good to go. It's really not like me to dive into a new pet without doing research, but I did it anyway, operating under the myth that bettas prefer tiny bowls to anything else. I didn't even buy the poor guy a bowl heater
I started doing heavy research a few days ago, and immediately saw the error of my ways and felt awful about it. I consider myself to be a very animal-oriented person, so I'm trying as quickly as possible to right the situation. I went out and bought a 3.5 gallon bowfront to put on my bedside table, a heater, and a Tom Mini Internal filter because the one provided in the 3.5g kit was really strong. He seems much happier already
I do eventually want to go up a size (to a 5 gallon) so that I can keep this 3.5 for shrimp only, but I think it'll work just fine for the interim. I'm pretty much here so that I can educate myself and hopefully become a decent fish keeper, and keep my betta healthy and happy.
I'd like to start figuring out now the steps to make my future Fluval a success as well. I've skimmed through some threads already, and most of replies I read came from what seem to be very knowledgeable, passionate people. I couldn't be more excited to start learning. I'm actually about to go post in the getting started section, but figured forum etiquette required I post here first.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice I receive!
